So, we made it! The Jeep was there a week before us and had been moved from the dock to a patch of sand underneath a ficus tree at G & G Shipping.
Now, I know that we are used to house plants called ficus trees, but this tree had been planted on the island over-top of an old water source. It was at least 30 feet tall and 60 feet wide. Yep, I am serious. Initially I thought it was a Banyan tree (keep in mind that horticulture is nowhere near my specialty), but it had a hundred trunks anchoring it and arms that spread over the entire front yard of the shipping company.
The kayaks made it with just a few dents and our dear little jeep already had dents and only lost one of the handles that crank the windows up and down. The Frisbee seemed fine!
We borrowed a home from a couple who spend their winters on the island. While winter on Long Island is certainly earth’s version of Heaven, we enjoy anytime in this very rural and somewhat rustic place. Just so happens that we arrived during a rather warm spell. The temperatures had risen to about 94 degrees and the winds had stilled. The locals all accused us of bringing a little bit of Texas with us as normally it is a bit cooler there.
So, off we go, from the airport at Deadman’s Cay and up to the South end of Long Island. Yep, “up” is what I said. On Long Island you go “Down North”” and “Up South.” I think it has to do with the way the trade winds blow and is a standard part of conversation on the island. So up south we traveled to Lochabar.
The main road is paved, but most of the other roadways are not. There are only a few street signs, so past Ansel’s goats, after the dangerous curve (not the only one on the island) and just past the rock cut out that has abandoned salt fields across the path, then you turn left until you see the sea. We bounced up the left hand side of a rather rough road, over some hills and back down again – and there was the ocean! “Wan ya gets a da sea use’a goin’ t da houz wit da predd’st bo-genvlas.” All the bougainvilleas were pretty to me, but darned if they weren’t right, these flowers were amazing!
Thus, our little Jeep pulled past the goat gate (more about the goats on the road later) and up to our temporary home.
The Road Trip Across The Ocean continues . . .
Lynn Beckwith, That Car Lady
